Darrow Miller and Friends

HAITI, AMERICA, and the Effects of Biblical Thinking

If you want to see the  impact of a Biblical worldview, consider the differences between Haiti and the US. That’s the gist of the exchange below.

Haiti will prosper to the degree she embraces biblical thinkingWe recently received a note from our friend Mike Bell, national director of Hungry for Life USA.  We have captured his questions, and Darrow’s responses in bullet points.

“I was teaching some students last weekend, and pointing out the difference between a country like Haiti and ours, talking about lies and Biblical truth … and some of the students understood me to be saying that “America is more biblical

  • Was more Biblical, but is not now.
  • America was founded by Christians (not today’s dualistic evangelicals and charismatics) who thought, functioned, and built a nation framed by a Biblical worldview.
  • America is totally secular today. Some are still living from a memory of a Biblical worldview. But most Americans, including many Christians, are functioning from an atheistic and materialistic paradigm.
  • We need to make a clear distinction between America’s founders/founding and the nation today.

“and better than countries like Haiti”

  • We need to be very clear that Americans are not inherently better than any other people. Sometime we make people feel this way. And sometimes people think they are inferior to Americans. Both are wrong
  • The fact is that all human beings are “created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights …..”
  • Americans are not better than Haitians and Haitians are not better than (North) Americans.
  • In fact it was the American founders’ understanding of the above quote that made America what she became and is now fast losing.
  • Any society that begins with a Biblical worldview and Biblical principles will move toward a state of flourishing. Any that begins with a lie or illusion will suffer poverty. It is not the people that are better or worse; the ideas are better and worse.

as seen in the fact that we are richer.”

  • The test of a nations success is not found in her material wealth.
  • It is found in her wisdom and in her personal and public righteousness – goodness.
  • Material wealth is an incomplete benchmark of the health of a nation.
  • A nation that “obeys all that Christ has commanded” will move toward flourishing in all areas of life, including economic. A people that does not obey “all that Christ has commanded” will tend to deteriorate and suffer.

“At first I thought ‘Oh dear, I need to clarify this'”

  • Yes, it does need to be clarified.

“but then I realized, on the face of it, I WAS making the point that our affluence is an indicator of the underpinnings of Biblical ethics, the rule of law, a work ethic … even though these things are not universally held by our culture now.”

  • Again, I would not use the word affluence. This has the connotation of mere material wealth. The health of a nation is much more than material. We are currently an affluent nation that is morally and spiritually bankrupt. This bankruptcy, uncorrected, will inevitably lead to our economic demise.
  • You are correct in that some of the things that you have listed will lead to a nation’s flourishing.  Other influences include the dignity of all human beings, justice, truth, beauty, et al.

“How else would you clarify or modify what I was attempting to communicate (which was much more nuanced than simply America is more biblical and better than countries like Haiti as seen in the fact that we are richer). For example, would you make the distinction that you are not talking about “God blessing religious behavior” or any sort of health-and-wealth thinking?”

  • This is not about religious behavior and religious fervor. It is not even about “believing in God.” It is about believing God. It is about living in the reality that he has created, not in the illusions that we have made.
  • It is certainly not about health-and-wealth, name-it-and-claim-it theology. That is magical thinking and only reinforces the mindset that has made Haitians impoverished in the first place.
  • It is about what we call the “cultural trinity”: Truth, Goodness (Justice), and Beauty. We are to live within the circle of the cultural trinity. We are to live in the reality of creation, within the framework of the Biblical worldview and principle.

“Also, if someone points out the affluence of countries that do not (nor have not) had a strong Biblical background, what is your typical response?”

  • God has made the universe to function in a certain way. A person or people does not have to be saved to function within that frame work. The law of gravity works!
  • Truth is self-authenticating, lies are self-destructive.
  • Many people who are saved do not function within the reality that God has made. They function in a materialistic frame. Some function in a super-spirituality framework.
  • It is Christians who have access to understand why the world functions in a given way.

These are good questions, Mike. For a more complete answer see my book, Discipling Nations. This book is where I answer these questions.

– Darrow Miller

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About 
Darrow is co-founder of the Disciple Nations Alliance and a featured author and teacher. For over 30 years, Darrow has been a popular conference speaker on topics that include Christianity and culture, apologetics, worldview, poverty, and the dignity of women. From 1981 to 2007 Darrow served with Food for the Hungry International (now FH association), and from 1994 as Vice President. Before joining FH, Darrow spent three years on staff at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland where he was discipled by Francis Schaeffer. He also served as a student pastor at Northern Arizona University and two years as a pastor of Sherman Street Fellowship in urban Denver, CO. In addition to earning his Master’s degree in Adult Education from Arizona State University, Darrow pursued graduate studies in philosophy, theology, Christian apologetics, biblical studies, and missions in the United States, Israel, and Switzerland. Darrow has authored numerous studies, articles, Bible studies and books, including Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Culture (YWAM Publishing, 1998), Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women for Building Healthy Cultures (InterVarsity Press, 2008), LifeWork: A Biblical Theology for What You Do Every Day (YWAM, 2009), Rethinking Social Justice: Restoring Biblical Compassion (YWAM, 2015), and more. These resources along with links to free e-books, podcasts, online training programs and more can be found at Disciple Nations Alliance (https://disciplenations.org).

5 Comments

  1. Stephen Z. Yashim

    April 30, 2013 - 6:21 am

    Poverty is indeed not limited to the material aspect of life, it encompasses other aspects like the spiritual, the moral, etc. Darrow’s response to Mike’s questions is quite insightful. Transformation by God’s truth is indeed what is essential for prosperity in any and every aspect of life. America and Americans do well to recognize that in the midst of their material wealth they are indeed in poverty in other aspects of life. I have aligned myself with the Darrow Miller school of thought concerning the cause of poverty and how to recover from it. I am striving to learn how to appreciatively influence the process of transformation to cultivate wealth in different aspects of life in the “corner” God has placed me. This is one of the reasons I’ve joined this network.

    • admin

      April 30, 2013 - 7:25 am

      Thanks so much for joining, Stephen, and for your thoughtful response.

      May every blessing of Christ attend to you as you serve Him.

      Gary Brumbelow

  2. cam

    April 30, 2013 - 7:26 am

    It is not the people that are better or worse; the ideas are better and worse.

    or:

    It is not the people that are better or worse; the ideas “believed and acted upon” are better and worse.

    • admin

      May 1, 2013 - 11:15 am

      Very true, Cam. Thanks.

      Gary Brumbelow

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